Russia still far from solving Politkovskaya murder

New York, December 17, 2012--The Committee to Protect
Journalists today called for a retrial of a key defendant in the murder of Anna
Politkovskaya. The defendant, a former senior police official, was sentenced
Friday in a deal that Politkovskaya's family and colleagues fear will not
ultimately identify the crime's true masterminds.

Moscow City Court wrapped up the two-day, closed trial of former
police Lt. Col. Dmitry
Pavlyuchenkov, who was originally charged with organizing the 2006 killing
of the prominent Novaya Gazeta correspondent
but, under a deal he cut with investigators, was tried only for being an
accomplice. According to the deal, Pavlyuchenkov was obligated to fully confess
his role in the murder and name its mastermind, Novaya Gazeta said. The journalist's family and colleagues say
Pavlyuchenkov did not fulfill those conditions, but their appeals to invalidate
the deal were denied.

Also under the deal with investigators, journalists were
allowed in court only for the opening and closing statements; all substantive
deliberations and testimony were sealed to the public.

Judge Aleksandr Zamashnyuk sentenced Pavlyuchenkov to 11
years in a maximum-security prison and ordered him to pay moral damages of
3,000,000 rubles (US$ 96,786) to Politkovskaya's adult children, Ilya and Vera.
Politkovskaya's family said Friday that they would appeal the ruling, which
they consider lenient, and that they would continue to ask for an invalidation
of Pavlyuchenkov's deal with the investigation.

Investigative Committee spokesman Vladimir Markin, in a
statement after the verdict, announced for the first time that Pavlyuchenkov
had named exiled Russian tycoon Boris Berezovsky and Chechen envoy Akhmed
Zakayev as the masterminds who ordered Politkovskaya's murder. He said that
version of events is now considered the leading one for the investigation.

However, the Politkovskaya family's legal representatives--who
have studied investigative materials into Pavlyuchenkov's role in the crime--said
those materials contain no substantive evidence of Berezovsky's or Zakayev's
involvement in the slaying. Berezovsky's alleged role as mastermind was first
suggested shortly after the murder by President Vladimir Putin.

"We call on Russian investigators to get to the truth about
our colleague Anna Politkovskaya's murder rather than settle on a politically
expedient resolution," CPJ Europe and Central Asia Program Coordinator Nina
Ognianova said. "Dmitry Pavlyuchenkov is a key figure who can help lead to the
true masterminds, but his quick, closed-door trial has brought more concerns
than answers."

Five other suspects, including three Chechen brothers--two
of whom were acquitted
by a jury back in 2009--are to be tried in separate proceedings in the
journalist's murder. The three
Makhmudovs, Rustam, Ibragim, and Dzhabrail Makhmudov, are charged as Politkovskaya's
immediate killers. Suspects also include Chechen underground leader Lom-Ali
Gaitukayev, who the official investigation now says was the main organizer of
the killing and served as liaison between the masterminds and Pavlyuchenkov;
and Sergei Khadzhikurbanov, another former police officer who served at the
Moscow Directorate for Combating Organized Crime at the time of the murder.
Along with Ibragim and Dzhabrail Makhmudov, Khadzhikurbanov was tried
and acquitted of involvement in the crime back in 2009. He is considered an
accomplice in the crime now. A court date has not yet been scheduled for the
five suspects.

After Friday's verdict, Novaya
Gazeta Deputy Editor Sergey Sokolov told CPJ that Pavlyuchenkov "has given
no testimony about the true masterminds of the crime, even though we have every
ground to believe that he knows who these people are." Sokolov also said Pavlyuchenkov
had failed to reveal anything about the financing of the crime. "As a result,
Pavlyuchenkov did everything to cut any possibility of netting the true key
culprits in Anna Politkovskaya's murder," he said.

Pavlyuchenkov's defense lawyer had asked for a conditional
sentence for his client, saying that the former police colonel is not in good
health and citing his former service to the state.